Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dolly that can be used to attach or detach a landing gear of an aircraft to or from an airframe of the aircraft, and a method for attaching and detaching the landing gear using the same.
Description of the Related Art
When a landing gear (main landing gear or nose gear) is attached to or detached from an airframe in producing or maintaining an aircraft, a dolly that can retain and convey the landing gear is used.
One such dolly is known that has a multi-axial (e.g., 5-axis) position adjustment mechanism. The dolly includes an assembly having a reduction gear train and a rail built therein that constitute a multi-axial position adjustment mechanism. The attitude of a landing gear rigidly fixed to the assembly is adjusted by being displaced in a vertical direction, front-rear direction, and lateral direction, as well as a roll direction, yaw direction, and the like, together with the assembly. In such a manner, a landing gear and an attachment portion of an airframe are accurately positioned.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2015-44475 describes a dolly used to convey a skin panel while supporting the skin panel in a cantilever manner. In order to position a supporting portion of the dolly and an end portion of the skin panel, the dolly has a position adjustment mechanism that is displaceable in a vertical direction and a direction in a level plane.
In the case of using a dolly including an assembly that has a multi-axial position adjustment mechanism and is fixed to a landing gear, it is necessary to adjust each of multiple axes to adjust the attitude of the landing gear, which takes a long time for positioning work.
Even in the case of intending to perform a rough position adjustment initially, the landing gear has to be displaced little by little by rotating operation of a handle via a reduction gear train, which makes it difficult to perform position adjustment swiftly.
Furthermore, the assembly includes many components such as a gear, a rail, and the like, and is demanded to have sufficient rigidity to bear a load of the landing gear and its own weight, which makes the assembly large and makes the dolly large as a whole.
In addition, the assembly needs a height equivalent to a stroke in a vertical direction that is necessary to cause the landing gear to reach an attachment portion of an airframe positioned above, which makes the dolly tall.
For the convenience of storing or handling in a maintenance field in an airport, a small dolly is desired.
Considering the above, the present invention has an objective to provide a dolly for handling landing gear of an aircraft that enables, while being downsized, work of positioning the landing gear with respect to an attachment portion of an airframe of the aircraft to be performed efficiently, and a method for attaching or detaching a landing gear using the dolly.